TLDR
- Combined leverage on Binance and Bybit fell 90.9%, dropping from $1.12 billion to $102 million between August 22 and August 30.
- ETH price has stayed near $2,500 despite the sharp drop in derivatives activity.
- U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs pulled in about $1.5 billion over 10 trading days since August 15.
- BlackRock’s ETHA fund accounted for roughly $1.02 billion, or 71.9%, of that ETF inflow.
- Whale wallet 0x2Ea2 moved 40,881 ETH, worth $100.67 million, onto major exchanges over two days.
Ethereum’s price has stayed steady near $2,500 even as traders pulled back sharply from leveraged bets. This shift shows the rally now depends more on real buying than on borrowed money.
Between August 15 and August 22, traders piled into leveraged positions as ETH pushed toward $2,500. Combined open interest on Binance and Bybit grew by $1.12 billion in that single week.
That trend reversed fast. By August 30, combined leverage on both exchanges had fallen 90.9% to just $102 million.
Binance’s open interest dropped from $843 million to $94 million. Bybit fell even harder, from $277 million to $8 million.
Despite this pullback, ETH held its ground near $2,500. Price did not collapse alongside the leverage.
ETF Inflows Are Replacing Leverage
Spot Ethereum ETFs have picked up much of the slack left by fading leverage. U.S.-based funds have seen inflows every session since August 15.
Over that 10-day stretch, these ETFs took in close to $1.5 billion combined. BlackRock’s ETHA fund led the pack by a wide margin.
ETHA alone brought in about $1.02 billion, making up 71.9% of all ETF inflows during this period. At ETH prices between $2,400 and $2,500, that works out to roughly 570,000 to 630,000 ETH bought.
ETF purchases work differently than leveraged trades. They create direct demand in the spot market without adding risk through futures contracts.
A Whale Is Testing That Demand
A large ETH holder, wallet 0x2Ea2, has started moving coins onto exchanges. Over two days, it deposited 40,881 ETH, worth about $100.67 million, across Binance, OKX, Bybit, Kraken, and Gate.
One single transfer sent 8,629 ETH to Binance in a single day. Moving coins to an exchange does not confirm a sale, but it does make the coins ready to sell.
This matters because any sales from this wallet could offset some of the buying coming from ETF demand. The wallet still holds 10,506 ETH, worth around $25.52 million, as of the latest data.
If that remaining balance also moves to exchanges, ETF inflows will need to absorb more selling pressure to keep ETH near current levels. That balance, and what happens to it next, is the detail worth watching.
